


The Enemy of My Enemy Is...?

by depizan



Series: Hands of Chance [1]
Category: Star Wars: The Old Republic
Genre: Action/Adventure, Friendship, Gen, Injury, Light-Hearted, Mad Science, Mild Language, Off screen Torture, Violence, cross faction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-29
Updated: 2013-07-29
Packaged: 2017-12-21 17:22:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,164
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/902892
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/depizan/pseuds/depizan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When freighter captain Jezari took a job from the Republic's SIS to retrieve some vital coordinates from a hostile planet, she didn't expect to run into an Imperial Intelligence agent.  Nor was Kyrian, after the same information for the Empire, expecting her.  But this job just might take both of them to pull off.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Enemy of My Enemy Is...?

**Author's Note:**

> My first story here (though it's cross-posted from deviantArt and a blog of mine), and the beginning of a series I'm working on. This story is set circa Chapter One of the class stories in SW:TOR, but doesn't contain any spoilers. The series will, eventually, depart the game's storyline - fair warning, and all.
> 
> Comments welcomed. Enjoy!

Naturally, a man with Lord Dralick's tastes kept his estate in a particularly inhospitable section of a not terribly hospitable world.  The jungles of Nerim were an effective deterrent to all but the most determined of visitors, as even the plant life had a taste for flesh.  Lord Dralick himself came and went via a private landing pad in his high walled and force field domed estate.  Kyrian had been forced to land in what passed for a clearing a kilometer away from the supposedly unoccupied compound.

He'd also been forced to leave Kaliyo behind to guard the ship.  That was both a blessing and a curse - he could certainly have used her assistance getting to the estate, but this was meant to be a quiet mission and quiet was not Kaliyo's specialty. He just hoped she didn't decide now was a good time to tender her resignation.

He reached the promised door in the outer wall basically intact. He'd been careful to give the vines and frandi pods a wide berth and the sonic dissuader clipped to his belt kept away swarm hunters and most other creatures.  It apparently didn't work on the _thing_ that had pounced on him, but his armored hunter's jacket was sturdy enough to block its teeth.  Though it had still left a painful set of bruises.  He had no idea what the creature was - perhaps it didn't have ears.  He'd mainly gotten the impression of far too many teeth and spiky scales.  His blaster shot had sent it shrieking back into the jungle, hopefully not for reinforcements.  Either he'd missed, or it was immune to blaster fire.

He wanted to be inside the force field and wall long before anything else not dissuaded wandered by.

He unfolded two metal polls and stabbed the sharp ends into the ground a centimeter or two from the faintly humming red air of the force field.  He attached the modulator and waited for it to find the right frequency.  A minute or so passed, and the air between the poles turned clear.  He crawled through the gap and gave a sharp tug on the modulator wires.  They popped free and the force field was whole again.  It was highly unlikely that anyone would notice the poles; access to the jungle was only for Lord Dralick's hunting parties, and he was away.

The door was easily opened with an override card.  The force field and the planet served as the estate's real security.

The grounds were quiet and empty, the private landing pad unoccupied. There were no windows on the ground floor of the house, and the upper floor windows appeared angled toward the jungle beyond.  Kyrian took a second look around, and still seeing no one, sprinted across the open ground to the house wall.

Everything remained quiet.

He followed the wall, moving quietly.  The estate would only be occupied by maintenance droids, but it still seemed wise to use the back door from the grounds.  Droids stuck to routine schedules and were easy to avoid, but there was no reason to take silly risks.

He'd been provided with a copy of Lord Dralick's key card, which worked on the outside doors and would open the study as well.  He'd thought it best not to ask how Intelligence had acquired it.

The house was quiet, save for an occasional droid chirp or whistle from a distant room.  He made his way to the study on the second floor.  So far, their information seemed spot on.  No droids on the route, no hint of an unexpected house guest.  Their informant must have been very close to Lord Dralick to know the house so well.

He swiped the key card in the study door.

An orange force field surrounded him, forming a tube from floor to ceiling.  It crackled ominously.

"Ah, good." Lord Dralick emerged from the room opposite, two very large men accompanying him.  It seemed unlikely that they'd achieved their height and breadth naturally. "Don't feel too badly, agent.  We were expecting you. You haven't been making friends with the right people."

"I think I've chosen my enemies well," Kyrian said.  _Too well, apparently._

Lord Dralick chuckled.  "You are a fine gift.  Now, be so kind as to drop your weapons."

"I'd rather not."

The force field pulsed, sending a flash of searing pain through him.

"You haven't much choice," Lord Dralick said. "The force field is quite capable of rendering you unconscious when your stubbornness loses its entertainment value.  Now, do drop your weapons."

Kyrian complied. He might have a chance, a small one, when the force field dropped.  The bodyguards hadn't drawn their weapons and Lord Dralick didn't appear to be armed. Scenarios flashed through his mind. What would give him the best chance?

He had none.  The moment he raised his hands, the force field gave another pulse, a stronger one.  He staggered, sparks flashing at the edges of his vision.   He didn't even see the force field drop.

Dralick's bodyguards seized him.  One twisted his arms behind his back, so tightly he couldn't move.  The other searched him, dropping every piece of electronics he carried on the floor next to his weapons; he wouldn't be calling for the dubious backup Kaliyo might provide.  They stripped off his armored jacket and marched him into Lord Dralick's study.

Kyrian tried not to glance at the computer terminal.  So close to his objective, yet so very far away. Still, Dralick hadn't killed him outright. That didn't exactly give him hope, but it did give him time. And there was always the possibility that Dralick would dismiss his guards.

The enormous men fastened binders around his wrists and, more surprisingly, his ankles.  Kyrian wondered if there was any chance of talking his way out of this.  Perhaps he could convince Dralick to release him into the jungle.  And be eaten by the thing he'd met earlier, its friends, the plant life... _Perhaps not_.

Lord Dralick pressed a button on his desk.  A small hook popped out from the floor roughly a meter in front of it, and a metal rod with a hooked end descended from the ceiling above the floor hook.  Kyrian put two and two together and reconsidered the jungle.

The guards carried him forward and fastened him to the hooks by his binders.  Lord Dralick adjusted the rod so that he was able to stand flatfooted, just.  It was a clever method of securing a prisoner of most heights, and one that did not bode at all well for Kyrian's near future.

Neither did the assortment of items Dralick spread on the desktop.  A shock stick, some type of whip, an energy brand, an assortment of syringes, and several wicked looking devices Kyrian didn't recognize.

"I'm not sure what information you think I have," he said, trying to sound conversational.  "I should point out I'm forbidden to tell you anything."

Lord Dralick blinked at him.  "Who said anything about information?"

 

 

 

"We're supposed to land in _that_?" Captain Jezari stared at the holovid.  She'd been to Hutta, Taris, Zariv, and other planets where the wildlife was dangerous, but this was ridiculous.  Vines snapped at small toothy creatures, snagging one of the herd as they raced by the writhing plant.  Its mouth opened in an unrecorded cry as the vine whipped it into the plant's maw.   The rest of the herd ran on, swarming toward and over a slower, spiked creature.  When the small creatures finished, only bones were left.

Something sniffed at the camera, giving them a close up of a dark, moist snout and then jagged teeth.  The holorecording dissolved in static.  "It ate the camera!"

"They're not big enough to eat the ship," Corso said.  "Besides, me an' Torchy will take care of them."  He patted the custom blaster on his hip.

"Corso..." Jezari massaged her forehead.  Sometimes she felt like the only competent person in Republic Space.  Even if they weren't actually _in_ Republic Space at that moment. "Oh, screw the plans.  We come in blazing, shoot out the shield generator, land in Dralick's backyard and just storm the place.  He's only got a handful of guards, and most of the security is for the planet.  It _is_ the planet."

"I like that," Corso agreed.

So did Bowdaar.

"They gave us that plan for a reason," Risha said.  "They don't want Lord Dralick to know what we're after."

"And they made everything too complicated, like always," Jezari said.  "I'll shoot his computer.  I'm not walking us through that mess."

"Captain..."

Jezari sighed.  "Fine.  I'll download _everything_ , then shoot his computer.  I'd like to see him figure it out then.  Anything else?"

Even Risha shook her head no that time.

"Great," Jezari said.  "We go with the new plan.  Bowdaar, you and Corso keep the guards busy, Risha, you guard the ship, I get the info, we all get out.  Don't get captured, the guy's even more of a freak than your usual Imperial - it's not just the secret facility we're after, this guy tortures people for fun."

"That's all Imps," Corso said.  "Bunch of sick, evil freaks."

"And he's supposed to be worse than normal," Jezari repeated.  "Don't.  Get.  Captured."

 

 

 

The explosion shook the house, putting an abrupt end to the torture session.  Lord Dralick swore and charged out of the room with his bodyguards.  Kyrian looked around woozily.  Blinking helped with the blurriness, but nothing seemed to fix the fact that the room was slowly spinning.

_Computer...coordinates, just have to get down._   He realized the flaw in that plan almost immediately.  The hook arrangement holding him in place was clearly designed to restrain pretty much anyone, up to and probably including wookiees.  He wasn't likely to develop superhuman strength just because he wanted very badly to get out of there.

"Damn."  It would have been nice to think that the chaos outside was Kaliyo come to rescue him, but he knew that wasn't likely.  He was on his own.  And pretty much helpless, unless whoever _was_ outside felt like rescuing him.

There had to be something he was overlooking.  The drug Dralick had given him didn't just make him dizzy, it made it hard to think.  It also was likely responsible for the fact that it felt like someone had poured acid in his wounds.  Dralick hadn't specified what it did; he'd merely gloated that he'd designed it himself.  A very good reason to shut down his secret installation.

_If I could just..._  Every idea he had for getting down required him to be able to get down.  He couldn't reach anything, couldn't break the restraints, couldn't spontaneously develop Force powers, couldn't somehow squeeze out of the restraints.  Anything that would break the ceiling sufficiently to free him would probably break him, as well.  Besides, the only blaster fire now was that of hand weapons.

Calling for help was beginning to seem like an entirely appropriate solution when the door exploded.

He twisted awkwardly toward the door, stifling a gasp at how much that hurt at present.  He wanted to see Kaliyo, or someone else likely to rescue him, standing there.  What he got was an entirely unknown quantity.

A woman stood in the doorway, a blaster pistol in each hand.  Her skin was an unusual yellow-tan, and there were triangular geometric designs tattooed under each of her eyes.  Her dark hair was pulled up out of her way and her clothing was eminently practical.  His drugged brain managed to piece together that she was a Mirialan.  And almost certainly not Imperial.

He tried to smile reassuringly.  "Perhaps you could get me down from here?"

           

 

 

Jezari's plan was working perfectly.  Bowdaar and Corso had led the guards off while she sprinted through the house, blasters at the ready.  Nothing challenged her.  The droids she ran into ran away, bleeping, but there were no remaining guards for them to alert.  They'd all run off to deal with the mad wookiee and the ship that had parked in the back yard, quad guns aimed at the house.

She found Lord Dralick's study on the second floor, right where it was supposed to be.  She eyed it for a moment.  Risha had given her a card that was supposed to fry the door circuits, but Jezari wasn't sure she trusted even a door in this place.  _Better safe than sorry_ , she thought.  And blew open the door.

It was Lord Dralick's study all right.  There was just one minor problem.  No one had said a damned thing about prisoners.

She stood in the wrecked doorway and stared at the man hanging from the ceiling by his wrists.  No, not hanging, quite.  Though he didn't look too steady on his feet.  His shirt was pretty much shredded, and she could see bloody welts crossing his chest and back.  His complexion was off, pale somehow, though he was darker skinned than she usually thought of Imperials as being.

She didn't know why she'd instantly pegged him as Imperial, but the moment he spoke, she knew she'd been right.

"Perhaps you could get me down from here?" His voice - and his attempt to hide his accent - was as weak as the half smile he gave her.

"Trouble with your boss?"

He looked serious.  "Dralick isn't my employer."  No attempt to hide the accent that time.

"Innocent victim?"  As if an Imp could ever be that.

He looked away.

She walked past him and stuck a holodisc into the computer.  All she had to do was run the copy program and get out of there.  And ignore the little part of her that was saying unhelpful things like "You can't just leave somebody to _Lord_ _Dralick_." and "He didn't call you alien scum."

"I'm sorry," he said.  "You must have good reason to hate the Empire."

Jezari turned.  That ranked high on the list of things she'd never expected to hear an Imp say.  "You think you can sweet talk me into saving you?"

"Would that work?"

The hint of hope in the question was the last straw.  "Damn you."  She brought up her blaster.

"Wait!"

She shot the metal rod holding him to the ceiling.  He barely avoided hitting himself in the head with his bound hands.  But he had no way to catch himself as he over balanced.

She grabbed his arm, steadying him. If he fell, he might well break his ankles.  And then they'd really never get out of there.  He wasn't a large man, a little shy of average height and kind of slender, but she didn't think she could carry him.

He stared at her, breathing hard.  "You might have warned me."

"Just don't try anything."  She bent down, not taking her eyes off him, and released his ankles.

He took a step back, eyeing her a bit warily.  "Thank you."

She'd never felt more frustrated by politeness.  She couldn't just leave him - he was unarmed, injured, and, judging by the empty syringe on the desk and the slightly unfocused look to his eyes, drugged.  He'd get recaptured or eaten.

_He's an Imperial_ , she screamed at herself.  _Who cares?_

"I don't know what you came for," he said, indicating the computer. "But Lord Dralick has a... an installation.  There may be Republic prisoners there."

She could guess why his voice had faltered.  It was the same damned installation she was after the coordinates for.  The sensible part of her said "Ha, he's Imperial Intelligence.  He deserves to be eaten."  The annoying nagging part of her said "He could be a rebel." and "What was he after the coordinates for?"

Something interesting must have shown on her face.

"That is what you came for."  It wasn't a question.

"Just shut up and I'll get you out of here."  She snatched the now full disc out of the computer.  She wasn't taking her eyes off him if she didn't have to.

He nodded.

She growled and blasted the computer.  With both blasters, just for good measure.  He needed to stop looking young, slightly vulnerable, and...and...like a person.  She blamed that he was drugged, and needed her help.  As soon as he realized he was her prisoner, he'd act like a normal Imperial.  She was sure of it.

 

 

 

Kyrian flinched as his rescuer blasted Lord Dralick's computer to smoldering ruins.  He wasn't entirely certain "rescuer" was the right term for her - new captor seemed more likely.  She'd left the binders on his wrists and she clearly had no love for Imperials.  Still, she had to be an improvement over Dralick, even if she did keep waving her blaster at him.

"Come on." She grabbed his elbow and pulled him toward the door.

He stumbled.  Only the fact that she was still holding his arm kept him from falling.

"Damn it! What did Dralick give you?"

"I don't know." He shook his head. And instantly regretted it. He pressed his hands to his forehead, trying to make the room stop.  Now it was washing up and down as well as spinning.

"Here." She pulled his hands down and unfastened the binders.  "At least I won't have to keep catching you."

"I'll still slow you down." He wasn't sure he _could_ get out on his own.  If it weren't for the jungle between him and the ship (if it was still there), convincing her to leave him would have been his best chance. He had a bad feeling his current options were feed the local wildlife or end up in a Republic prison.

She dragged him down the hall.  "Just try to keep up."

Their escape was a blur. Physical exertion seemed to make the drug's effects worse, and he could barely see for dizziness and pain by the time they ran up her ship's ramp. He clung to a wall, trying desperately not to become the first agent to pass out on assignment.

"What is _that_?" The voice sounded young, disgusted, and female.

"Dralick had a prisoner," his rescuer said.

More feet pounded up the ramp and Kyrian heard the sound of a hatch cycling.

"Damned Imps!" Another voice, male.

"He _is_ an Imp." His rescuer sounded irritated. "We don-"

"What'd you bring him for!?" The male voice demanded.

A wookiee growled something.  It didn't sound particularly welcoming, either.

"We don't have _time_ for this!" His rescuer cut through any further argument.  "Lock him up.  Come on, Bowdaar."

Hands grabbed him - the man, not the wookiee, he was pretty sure - and shoved him down the corridor.  A door hissed open and the man gave him a hard shove, knocking him off his feet.  He barely caught himself on hands and knees.

"Just try and escape," the man said. And the door hissed shut, locking him in.

Kyrian sat on the floor until his vision cleared.

He'd been locked in a crew cabin, not a cell. It was undecorated, but it had a bunk, an empty closet, and a small attached washroom.  Whoever these people were, they weren't set up for prisoners. He couldn't decide if that was in his favor or not.

There was a chance he'd be able to escape, especially if their next stop wasn't Coruscant. That chance would go up significantly if the drug wore off before then.  It still hurt to move, and the room was doing things it really shouldn't.  He got up slowly, and, using the wall to steady himself, explored his prison, starting with the washroom.

It was functional, though the bracket on the wall where he guessed a medpac would go was empty.  He splashed cold water on his face, and drank some.  It seemed to help.  At least the room was back to merely spinning slowly.

Without a medpac, there was little he could do about Dralick's handiwork.  That would complicate his escape, since he'd be at a decided disadvantage in hand-to-hand combat.  Not that he was planning on fist fighting a wookiee in the first place.  Finding an opportunity to run away was pretty much his only escape option.

Unless he could convince them to let him go.  Was there anything he could offer them in exchange for his freedom and, even better, the coordinates of Dralick's secret facility?  If he managed to complete the mission, despite being set up, someone would be very unhappy.  He just hoped it wouldn't be him.

 

 

 

As soon as they were safely in hyperspace, Jezari called a crew meeting in their main room.  Risha looked bored and vaguely disapproving, as usual, but Corso looked angry, and Bowdaar was being unreadable, even for a wookiee.

"Why'd you rescue an _Imperial_?" Corso demanded.

"I couldn't leave him." Jezari knew that wasn't much of an answer.  "He might be valuable. I don't think he's just a citizen, he was after the same thing we were hired to get.  He might be Imperial Intelligence."

"All the more reason to shoot him," Corso said.  "You know what they're like. They go around disappearing their own people!  They want to destroy the Republic and make everybody slaves!  Or worse!"

"Then why was Dralick torturing him?  Something doesn't add up."

"I'll see what I can find out," Risha said, excusing herself.  "He better be valuable."

"It's gotta be a trap," Corso said. "No way a few scratches make somebody that weak. He's gotta be faking."

"He was drugged." Jezari rested her chin on her fists. _And I'm a soft hearted sap_.

"How do you know?"

"There was a syringe..." On the desk, proving nothing.  The scene could've been staged.  Even his injuries didn't prove anything.  She wouldn't put it past the Empire to use that as icing on the cake.  He'd probably been trained to stand a lot worse.  "All right, I don't know, but it doesn't make sense as a trap.  The whole thing would have to be a set up.  For what? Us?  Why?  What's the trap?  Why even have a fake prisoner?"

"Who knows with Imps.  But if he's actually hurt, I'll eat my hat."

"You don't wear a hat."

Corso looked petulant.  "Why didn't you just leave him?"

She gave up.  "Because he's still a person. If it's a trap, it's the stupidest trap ever. And... And he was polite."

Corso stared at her.

It made more sense to Bowdaar. Imperials weren't polite to non-humans.  They weren't even that polite to other humans, unless they were important Imperial humans.  That definitely wasn't normal.

"At least somebody understands," Jezari said.

"He's faking!"

"He's Imperial Intelligence," Risha said, rejoining them. "I couldn't get a name, but he's been involved in some stuff on neutral worlds, and there was something else, but it was classified too tightly. I might be able to get it with more time."

"See!"

"So you were right," Risha continued. "He's going to be worth something to Republic Command."

Jezari drummed her fingers on the table. "Why did he want the coordinates? He told me about Dralick's place.  It's weird."

"That's probably the trap," Corso said. "He'd give you the wrong coordinates. It all makes sense."

She stared at him. "How does that make _any_ sense? They'd just have to put the wrong coordinates in the computer."

"Yeah, but this way, we bring him along and he springs the trap."

"Because that's easier than putting the wrong coordinates in the computer and waiting for us, or catching us at the estate?"

"It's sneakier."

Jezari groaned. "Corso, leave the thinking to me."

"I think you should both leave the thinking to _me,_ " Risha said.

 

 

 

The room had finally stopped spinning. Kyrian paced it slowly from end to end and back. It remained steady.  If they didn't want to talk to him, he had a workable backup plan.  Granted, that brilliant plan might have amounted to "wait until they take me off the ship and take the first opportunity to run away," but at least with the drug wearing off he had a good chance of succeeding. Especially if they wanted him alive, and so far they seemed to.

The door hissed open and a bored looking young woman sauntered in.  "So you're the weird Imperial."  She lounged against the wall, looking him up and down. "We know what you are already, so don't bother lying."

"WhatI am?"

"Imperial Intelligence."

"Ah," he said. "I did rather give that away when I told your captain about the facility."

"You can drop the act with me," the woman said. "We're both humans. And I've got a proposition for you."

He raised an eyebrow.  "What are you after?"

"This ship should be mine," she said. "But my ex-boyfriend got mixed up with that alien.  I want this ship and a real crew, not a furbag, a greenie, and a dolt. You want your freedom." She unholstered her holdout blaster and held it out to him. "Kill them, and I'll drop you wherever you like."

He looked from the weapon to her face. "Why do you need me for that?"

She rolled her eyes.  "They're hardened criminals. I can't take them all out myself, I'm nowhere near that good.  You're trained, you can drop them before they know what's happening.  It's a limited time offer. Do you want your freedom, or do you want to be sold to the Republic?"

"When you put it that way, I suppose I have no choice." He took the blaster.

"Good, I'll-"

He crossed the distance between them, spun her around, and pinned her to him, an arm around her neck and the blaster pressed to her temple.  "Let's have a talk with your captain," he said, forcing her out into the corridor.

She didn't struggle, but he had to push her forward, fighting for each step.  She was clearly smart enough to realize he'd be reluctant to shoot his hostage.   If the rest of the crew was as smart, he had a problem.

Another problem.

The drug hadn't actually worn off.  They'd only gone a few meters before the walls began to spin, and it soon felt like he'd pinned jagged pieces of metal between them.  He gritted his teeth and forced her onward, hoping that he'd still be able to see - or at least fake it - when he found the rest of the crew.

They were in the central common room of the ship, using the game table as a conference table.  The wookiee gave a surprised sounding growl and the man jumped to his feet.  The captain just stared in apparent disbelief.

"I'm sorry, Captain."  He fought to keep his voice steady.  The deck had started washing up and down and he was losing his peripheral vision.  "If you could drop me on the nearest neutral world with a space port..."

"Let her go!" The man ordered.  "Figures scum like you would hurt a woman!"

"I haven't hurt her, I just want-"

The woman in his arms went limp.  He stumbled backwards, trying to support her weight in a world that seemed to be moving in several different directions at once.  Before he could regain his balance, she shoved off the deck, hard, smashing them backwards into the wall.

He saw stars.

 

 

 

Jezari hadn't thought much of Risha's plan, but when Risha returned at the end of a blaster barrel, she'd been seriously tempted to just bang her forehead on the table until it all went away.  _That's it.  I'm the only one who gets to think._

"I'm sorry, Captain," their prisoner said.  He was an unhealthy shade of gray.  "If you could drop me on the nearest neutral world with a space port..."

Jezari rested her chin on one fist.  This was going to be the easiest hostage situation to resolve, ever.  Wait five minutes and the hostage taker would pass out.  If it took that long.  It wasn't like he could do anything to Risha in the meantime.

"Let her go!"  Corso shouted in predictable outrage.  "Figures scum like you would hurt a woman!"

Jezari groaned.  So much for easiest hostage situation ever.

"I haven't hurt her," their prisoner said.  "I just want-"

Risha went limp.  He staggered backwards, just barely keeping them both upright and the blaster to her head.  With a grin of triumph, she launched herself backwards, smashing him into the wall.  Hard.

He gave a strangled cry.  Jezari was amazed he managed to hang onto Risha and the blaster at all.  Risha raised an elbow to jab into his ribs.  Corso, never one to assess situations, tackled them.

The blaster went spinning one way, and Corso shoved Risha the other.  He drove their prisoner to the deck, pinning him down with his body weight.

"Okay, Corso, you got him." Jezari stood over them, hands on hips.  "You can let him go now."

"He might try something else," Corso warned.  But he sat back on his heels, glaring at their prisoner.

"Wow, that was totally unnecessary," Risha said, smoothing her silk shirt.

"He was hurting you!"

She snorted.

Their prisoner warily pushed himself into a sitting position, breathing hard.  He looked sick, and some of his wounds were bleeding again.

"What was that supposed to prove?" Jezari asked.

"That wasn't my plan," Risha said.  "I told him I'd let him go if he shot all of you."

Corso stared at her open mouthed.

"It was a trick, laserbrains."  She rolled her eyes.  "It's not even a real blaster.  It just looks like one.  It would even fool you, until you tried to use it."

"Wait, back up," Jezari said.  "You handed him freedom on a silver platter and he decided to hold you hostage?"  How the hell did _that_ make sense?

Risha shook her head.  "You got me. I figured he'd jump at the chance, and maybe I'd find out what he's really up to."

"It's a trick," Corso insisted.  "He's planning something."

"Yes," their prisoner said between pained breaths.  "This was... clearly... very clever of me."

They all stared at him.

"Captain, you find the _weirdest_ people," Risha said.

Jezari squatted down next to their prisoner.  "You want to explain what you were thinking?"

"I thought... I thought the drug had worn off," he managed.  "I was wrong."

"And that made this look like a good idea?"

He spread his hands in a kind of implied shrug.  "Playing along would have been wiser."

"You knew it was a trick?"  Risha frowned at him.  "Why did you take the blaster then?"

"It might not have been."

Jezari rubbed her forehead.  That made even less sense. "You're not going to tell me you didn't want to shoot us."

He didn't respond.

She blinked.  "You didn't want to shoot us?  What kind of Imperial Intelligence agent are you!?"

"Usually, a very good one," he said.

Risha snorted.

Jezari threw up her hands.  "I give up.  Corso, stop making fish faces and get a medpac.  If this is a trick, it's the best trick ever.  Nobody would believe it."

 Corso looked for a moment like he might argue, glanced at their prisoner in utter confusion, and did as ordered.  She had to agree with the utter confusion part. He didn't act like a normal Imperial, he didn't act like a normal agent - of _any_ kind, and he wasn't even acting like a normal prisoner.

In his position, she sure wouldn't have chatted with her captors.  The only normal thing he'd done was try to escape.

She stood up. "Come on, I'm not sitting on the floor to patch you up." She held a hand out to him, then thought better of it.  "Bowdaar, help him to the acceleration couch."

"I'm flattered." He winced as the wookiee helped him up.  "I think.  Why _do_ you still think I'm dangerous?"

Bowdaar pointed out that he _was_ an Imperial Intelligence agent.

"I'm sorry," their prisoner looked up at the wookiee.  "I don't speak...wookiee?"

Jezari had never seen a wookiee look so surprised.  Of course an Imperial wouldn't understand him; a wookiee was one thing in the Empire - a slave.  And not the kind you needed to have a conversation with.  Or the kind you apologized to for not speaking wookiee.

"Would you just act like a normal Imperial for once!"  She demanded.

"Curse you, alien scum?" He said doubtfully.

Bowdaar laughed.

Jezari buried her face in her hands.  "Damn it.  I know you're trying to get us on your side, but..."  The problem was it was working.  It had been working from the moment he opened his mouth and asked her to rescue him.

"What'd I miss?"  Corso asked.

Risha shrugged.  "The prisoner's still being weird."

Jezari took the medpac and sat in front of their weird prisoner.  "Take your shirt off," she said, ignoring Corso's scowl.

Their prisoner tried to suppress a smile.  "There are a number of very unwise things I could say to that."

"Did you just...?" Jezari spluttered in disbelief.  "Was that...?"

He held up his hands.  "I'm sorry.  That was unwise enough."

That was the problem, she realized.  Their Imperial prisoner kept acting like he saw them as people.  That wasn't how it was supposed to go, especially when she was trying so hard to keep in mind that he was a monster.  Or at least the enemy.

He winced a bit as he peeled off his tattered shirt.  The wounds that marked his chest and back were disturbingly regular, as if Dralick had been working on some sort of design. 

"Maybe it's not a trick," Corso said.

Their prisoner glanced at him.

 

 

 

Kyrian was nearly giddy with hope.  Contrary to all logic, his reckless escape attempt had actually improved his situation.  Instead of throwing him back in his makeshift cell, they'd decided to talk to him.  The longer he could keep them talking, the greater his chances of actually talking his way to freedom.  That was one advantage to having enemies who were, on the whole, more reasonable than your own side.

He gingerly eased off his ruined shirt.  Half-dried blood had stuck the fabric to some of the lacerations, and the drug was still doing a fine job of enhancing pain.  The expression on the captain's face as she got a good look at Dralick's handwork did almost as much for Kyrian's opinion of her as the fact that she'd decided to patch him up in the first place.  He wished he did feel well enough to flirt with her.

"Maybe it's not a trick," the man, Corso, said.

Kyrian glanced at him.  He actually wouldn't put it past Imperial Intelligence to order an agent tortured to add realism to an undercover assignment, but he didn't think it wise to admit that. Though it would further confuse his captors.

He focused on a point above the captain's head and concentrated on breathing evenly while she worked.  The room was still spinning a bit, but it had calmed down now that he wasn't trying to do anything.  Dralick was clearly a brilliant chemist, as well as a sadist; the drug made escape almost impossible.

"Maybe I should thank you for distracting Dralick for us," the captain said as she started on his back.

"I'm afraid I'm the wrong one to thank," he said. "If everything had gone according to plan, I'd have been gone by the time you arrived."

"What happened?"

"According to Dralick, I was set up." Kyrian hoped her question was a good sign - too much curiosity about your prisoner, and you might stop seeing them _as_ a prisoner.  "I think it's more likely that someone sold the information and then sold Dralick a warning.  You clearly had a more reliable informant."

"Or the informant doesn't like the Empire," the captain pointed out.

"That's entirely possible."

She stopped to look at him funny.

"I work for Imperial Intelligence," he said.  "If I'd had any illusions about the Empire, I wouldn't by now."

"Why do you do it?" Corso demanded.

"There are good people in the Empire.  They deserve protection against the Sith and other power-hungry factions, and most of the time that's what we do.  Granted," he hesitated, trying to decide just how honest to be, "I might interpret my assignments a little more generously than most agents. Intelligence wants Lord Dralick shut down because of his business dealings - he's selling to crime lords and dissidents.  I'd planned to free his prisoners, as well, if they can be freed." Being test subjects for a sadistic chemist couldn't be good.

"What about his notes and formulas?" The captain asked suspiciously.

"Imperial Intelligence asked me to retrieve them," Kyrian admitted.  "But accidents happen.  And Dralick gave me ample incentive to see that no one has his formulae."

"I'll bet."

"I was considering destroying them anyway," he said. "But now I'm certain it's worth the risk." He didn't know what else Dralick had concocted, and he didn't particularly want to find out. Or for anyone else to find out.

"Hey, wait," Corso said.  "We're turning you over to the Republic."

"I'd like to offer an alternative to that," Kyrian said.  "The Republic hired you to get the coordinates.  I'm sure they would pay you even more if you managed to shut the facility down.  You would take the credit on your side, I would take credit on mine."

"They did offer a pretty sweet deal just for the coordinates," Risha admitted.

"Oh, no, you don't," Corso said. "Don't listen to him!"

"What do you think, Captain?" Kyrian tried not to sound too hopeful.

"I think you'd say almost anything to get us to let you go," she said.  "And I think you're a damn weird Imperial.  But I'd have to be stupid to give you a blaster and walk into some kind of prison-lab with you."

"Even to save the prisoners?"

Her eyes narrowed. "You say you were set up, how do we know you're not setting _us_ up?"

Kyrian considered that.  "Wouldn't it be simpler to capture you the way I was captured or plant coordinates to an ambush?"

Corso scowled.

"All right," the captain said. "But you were still set up. Maybe Imperial Intelligence is trying to get rid of you."

"If Imperial Intelligence wanted me dead, I would..." He broke off.  There was a notable flaw in that line of reasoning. "Ah, I'm fairly certain Keeper would simply have me arrested.  Or call me in for a meeting I wouldn't walk away from."

She was looking at him funny again. "What was wrong with what you started to say?"

"I doubt you'll believe me, but there are a few people that Imperial Intelligence believes are dead who are very much alive."

"Are you nuts!?" Corso blurted.

She shook her head.  "That's some dangerous game you're playing, Imp. What do you think's going to happen when they find one of those 'dead' people?"

"I very much hope that they don't," Kyrian said.  He was in no hurry to be tortured and executed for treason.  And that was the most pleasant outcome he could imagine, should Imperial Intelligence or, worse, the Dark Council discover some of his more creative interpretations of orders.

"You're impossible," she said at last.  "I can't believe you. And I can't believe any Imperial would come up with half of what you said, no matter how much they wanted to con me."

"He just wants us to finish his job and let him go," Corso said. "He's an Imperial! Let Republic Command sort him out."

"Republic Command can barely find its ass with both hands and a map," the captain said.  "We'd probably do a better job of rescuing anybody Dralick's got."

"We don't need him for that!"

Kyrian sighed. "He's right." There was no point in denying something so obvious. "I have nothing to offer you, except my help.  I could promise you money, but I know none of you trust me."

"Help doing your job." Corso glared at him.  "She shouldn't have wasted our supplies on you."

"Corso." The captain sounded irritated.

"The Empire's _evil_!  Why didn't you just leave him!?"

" _We're_ not evil."

That seemed to stop him in his tracks.  "I just..." He looked at Kyrian, and then the floor. "I didn't mean that."

"You're not far off about the Empire," Kyrian said quietly.  "There are rather a lot of things wrong with it, beginning with the Sith religion. And there's only so much I can do."

The captain shook her head. "Damn it.  I believe him. I don't believe I believe him, but I do." She looked at her crew.  "Tell me I'm wrong."

They stared at him, as if hoping for some sign.  He risked a hopeful smile.

"It's the _Sith_ Empire!" Corso exclaimed at last. "How can the Sith be wrong with it!?"

"Have you met a Sith?"

Corso gabbled.

"I'm with you, Captain," Risha said. "Besides, he's kind of cute. For an Imperial."

Bowdaar shrugged and growled something.

"Corso?"

"But he... But... The Empire..." Corso's shoulders sagged. "I... I don't know. It's all wrong."

"You win, Imp," the captain said. "We'll destroy Dralick's place and rescue anybody we can.  But the formulas get destroyed.  Deal?"

"It's a deal, Captain." Kyrian held out his hand.

She hesitated a moment, then shook it.  "Jezari."

He smiled. "Kyrian."

Corso scowled.

 

 

 

It was the damned weirdest truce, partnership, whatever it was, that Jezari had ever been part of.  She had all the cards - no matter what angle she looked at it from - but Kyrian seemed to be playing from an entirely different deck.  And in whatever game he was playing, it didn't matter that he was the only unarmed person in a ship full of people with every reason to sell him to Republic Command when it was all over.

He'd even tried to flirt with her again when she got him a shirt.  And hadn't seemed offended when she'd told him to knock it off.

Her common sense was still screaming at her not to trust him, but he was so obnoxiously _trustable._ He was either the best con artist ever, or one hell of a weirdly honest agent and utterly doomed.

_I've got to get him off my ship before I ask him to join the crew._

But first there was Dralick's lab to deal with.  On the up side, it wasn't in Imperial space.  On the down side, it was in Hutt space and secret in the "nobody asks what goes on in the highly secure building owned by an anonymous off-worlder" kind of way.  She was beginning to see why the Empire had sent a lone agent and not just slagged the place from orbit. Besides wanting the formulas.

Formulas they wouldn't get. Unless Kyrian was lying to her. _That'd explain why he agreed, and isn't worried about pissing off his boss._ But she couldn't square that with anything else, and kept circling back to halfway trusting her weird guest. Prisoner. Whatever the hell he was.

_Stop thinking about it and worry about it if he tries something._

She turned the image of the building on the holovid, zooming in to the cutaway floor plans. They were out of date, from before Dralick bought the place, but they were the best Risha had dug up so far. One nondescript three story prison-lab, full of droids, lab assistants, and prisoners.  Too bad they didn't know what was where.

She checked the chrono. "I hope Risha comes up with more before we get there."

"Yes," Kyrian agreed. He looked a little uncomfortable.  "There are a couple of things we should consider before then."

"Oh, here we go," Corso said.

Jezari shushed him. "Like what?"

"It's possible they'll be expecting us," Kyrian said. "Dralick must know you rescued me, and he may know what I was after.  I'm not sure.  He referred to me as a gift, but he knew I was Imperial Intelligence."

She considered that.  And didn't care for the possibilities. "The only way he'd know we were after the same thing is if we were both set up.  It didn't seem like he was expecting us, so... Does Dralick have any Republic sympathizing friends you might have pissed off?"

"I wouldn't think so, but he has been selling to dissidents." Kyrian shrugged. "We may have to hope I was a distraction."

"Or this got way more complicated."

Bowdaar pointed out that Dralick still wouldn't expect them to be working together.

"Use him as a distraction again," Corso suggested. 

Bowdaar disagreed.

So did Kyrian. "That wouldn't be my first choice."

"No distractions," Jezari said. "At least not that way." She frowned at Corso. "And no complicated plans. But Bowdaar's right, he won't expect us to have teamed up. And he probably doesn't know how many of us there. Even if he knows we're coming, the place is more likely to be locked down.  But we're good at getting into tight places."

"And you never want to think anything's a trap," Risha said, rejoining them.  "I have good news and bad news.  It looks like he's connected the droids to his security system for faster response, which means that bringing down security should shut off the droids. But I can't do that from here - we'll have to do it manually.  From inside the building."

Corso blinked at Risha. "Do what how?"

Jezari was tempted to ask what part of that was supposed to be _good_ news.  "It'd be boring if it was easy."

"We seem to be back to using a distraction," Kyrian said.

"Yep, the straightforward kind - Corso and Bowdaar are good at keeping people busy. Risha takes care of security and we get the prisoners and destroy the lab."

"You can't take him with you," Corso protested.  "You can't trust him! Take me. Or Bowdaar."

"You two are the best at havoc," Jezari said. "And I trust him more where I can keep an eye on him." _And I trust him not to freak if it's bad in there._   Bowdaar was also nice and levelheaded, but there was no way she was teaming Kyrian and Corso.  _There_ was a recipe for disaster.

"This won't help with my trustworthiness," Kyrian said. "But we also need to consider whether my partner is following us."

She turned to look at him.  _Partner?_ Why the hell was he telling them this _now_?

 

 

 

Kyrian was acutely aware that they were all staring at him.  He knew he should have mentioned the question of Kaliyo sooner, but there hadn't been a good time.  There was never going to be a good time.

"And if she's not," he said into the uncomfortable silence, "I should warn her that Intelligence can track the ship she's using."

"You want to try that again?" Jezari said.

He sighed. "I left her guarding my ship. Most likely, it was the opportunity she'd been waiting for and she and the ship are light years away.  But she's never predictable; it's possible she decided to follow your ship."

"Let me see if I've got this straight.  You think she stole your ship and left you to Dralick and you want to warn her Imperial Intelligence can find her? Why would you want to do that!?"

"She could be following us."

"That's not an answer."

Kyrian didn't think she would consider "She's not _all_ bad" an answer, either.  In truth, he'd simply worked with Kaliyo long enough that he couldn't bring himself to abandon her to Intelligence's wrath, even if she'd brought it on herself.  She'd also opted not to mention his minor acts of treason to Keeper. So far as he knew.

"I owe her that much," he said at last.

"She stole your ship," Jezari said, in a tone that made him think she rated that somewhere in the vicinity of high treason.

"Technically, it's Imperial Intelligence's ship."

She glared at him. "Abandoned you to Dralick." Further high treason.

"She couldn't have known I'd be captured." Not that he thought knowing would have slowed her down.

"She... You... I don't believe this." Jezari threw up her hands. "I've met more vengeful Jedi!"

"That's 'cause he's lying." Corso glared at him. "You didn't say anything about a partner before.  You're trying to trick us."

Kyrian wasted several seconds trying to follow that logic. "Trick you into what?"

"A trap! Something!"

Risha and Bowdaar exchanged a look, and Jezari shook her head. "Corso..."

"If I were trying to trap you, wouldn't I keep her existence a secret?  Pretending for a moment that she _is_ following us." Kyrian was beginning to think Corso saw Imperials as a type of dangerous animal, prone to random biting when cornered. _Though that might describe Kaliyo. And your average Sith._

"You're way too okay with all of this."

"Why wouldn't I be?  We're going to accomplish everything I wanted to, and you're going to let me go.  I hope." It was clear that Corso still favored turning him over to Republic Command.

"Never mind Corso," Jezari said. "Let's get back to your 'partner.' We've got an untraceable comm channel. You can call her, but we're gonna stand right here watching you. If I think you're trying anything, I just might listen to Corso. Got it?"

Kyrian nodded. "Fair enough."

"I just want to know one thing first. Are you trying to save her, or do you think your boss's going to take it out on you?"

He hadn't considered that, but she was right, Keeper wouldn't be happy. Of course, Keeper had assigned Kaliyo to him in the first place. And, so far, he'd made a career of making Sith _very_ unhappy. He couldn't imagine Keeper doing anything worse to him.

"I'm trying to save her."

Jezari shook her head. "I don't get you.  Go ahead, call her." She indicated the holocomm.

Kyrian entered the ship's comm frequency and waited.  He wasn't at all certain Kaliyo would answer, but then he'd never been able to predict what she would do. He had a better idea how Jezari and her crew felt about him than how Kaliyo did.

 

 

  

Bowdaar and Risha eyed Corso, in case he forgot himself and said something. They were out of view of the comm's holocam, but it could still pick up audio.  If Kyrian's "partner" ever answered.

_With a partner like that, he should be glad she's gone,_ Jezari thought. _Except for the ship part._ It was easier to believe he didn't want Imperial Intelligence taking it out of his pay - or, more likely, his hide - except she was pretty sure that hadn't occurred to him until she'd mentioned it.

The holocomm came to life, casting a slight blue glow across everything.  Jezari had expected a human woman, but the small figure was clearly Rattataki: white skinned, tattooed and pierced like so many of her species. And probably a lot older than she looked.

"Agent." The figure sounded surprised.

"Kaliyo," Kyrian said, a lot more pleasantly than Jezari would have. "I found alternative transportation. And the coordinates. It seems that Dralick's facility is on Dirha. We should be arriving in two hours, if you'd care to meet us there."

Kaliyo's expression was unreadable, but Jezari could practically see the wheels turning, anyway. It was up to her to admit to ship theft. Or not.

_Kind, devious, or both?_ Trying to sort out what was going on in Kyrian's mind was going to give her a headache.

"And I thought you might have run into trouble," Kaliyo said after a moment.

Kyrian shrugged.  "Nothing I couldn't handle."  He almost sounded amused.  "I did have a bit of help."

"I can't wait to meet this _help_."

Jezari didn't miss the sarcasm to that last word. Neither did Corso.  Risha nudged him before he could say anything.

"They're more my kind of people than yours," Kyrian said.  "But you might like them."

Corso gestured urgently at the comm, mouthing something over and over, despite Risha's efforts to shush him.  Jezari thought part of it might have been "get him."  She shook her head.  That got more insistent gesturing. Bowdaar steered him out of the room before he started shouting his objection.

Jezari sighed. She was willing to give Kyrian the benefit of the doubt, for now. Oh, she was sure he'd told Kaliyo _something_.  He was too clever for his own good - and didn't seem to trust the holocall. But as far as she could figure it, he needed them more than they needed him.

She waited until Kaliyo signed off with a promise to meet them at the spaceport.

"Good job convincing Corso it's a trap," she said.

"He was already convinced," Kyrian pointed out.  "I didn't think you wanted me to mention our deal.  I'd rather Kaliyo didn't get the impression I need rescuing.  And no one needs to know she considered stealing the ship."

"That's almost too believable," Risha said. "He has an answer for everything."

"Yeah," Jezari agreed.  "I don't remember agreeing to your partner joining us."

"She could be useful, and I needed a reason for her to come back.  One that wouldn't..."  He trailed off, eyeing them uncertainly.  He seemed to have finally noticed who had all the cards.  "Does that mean our deal is off?"

She let him sweat a moment before answering. "No.  But you-"

"What!?" Corso howled from the doorway.  "He lied to us! Twice!" He stormed over to Kyrian. "You're not getting away with it."

Kyrian held up his hands. "I'm not trying to get away with anything. I want this mission to succeed as much as you do. Possibly more."

"Back off, Corso," Jezari said.  "He's got the point."

"But he lied!"

"I make the decisions. Back off." She frowned at him until he took a couple of steps back, then turned her frown on Kyrian.  "Don't make me regret this, Imp."

"I won't."

 

 

 

Jezari wondered if her common sense would ever speak to her again.  For a perfectly normal human, Kyrian was _way_ too good at getting everything his way.  She frowned across the docking bay at the agent's sleek silver ship and tried to remember why letting him go alone to talk to his partner had seemed like a good idea.

Corso fidgeted, looking for the Imperial troops he was sure Kyrian had called.  Risha ignored both of them in favor of drooling at the ship. _Probably all looks,_ Jezari thought irritably.

Bowdaar was alert, though not twitchy. He didn't agree with Corso's certainty that Kyrian would betray them, but he hadn't survived over a hundred years as a gladiator by not taking precautions. Jezari wasn't sure he wasn't the only one who actually _had_ common sense.

_Imperial Intelligence agent,_ she growled to herself. _Doesn't matter how good he is at talking, or how bad a day he had. Or how young. Or convincing. Or... I am_ such _a sap._

She had half convinced herself that Corso was right when Kyrian and Kaliyo came down the ship's ramp and headed toward them.  He'd told her exactly what he planned to get, and had stuck to it as far as she could see: lightly armored jacket, rifle slung over one shoulder, whatever gadgets he thought would be useful wouldn't be visible. His partner was more heavily armored - the kind of armor that came with built-in surprises.

He was doing a very good job of looking harmless for an armed man. Or would've been if Kaliyo didn't look like she was itching for a fight.

Jezari nudged Corso. "Don't do _anything_."

"You _can't_ trust him!"

"Cool it, Corso. He came back."

"I can even pay you now," Kyrian said. "If you trust Imperial funds." He seemed completely at ease, but she noticed he was still being careful not do anything that could be interpreted as threatening.

"Keep it," she said. "I barely trust _you._ "

"Nice mercenaries you found," Kaliyo said. She eyed Corso. "This one's either going to piss himself or shoot you."

Corso spluttered.

"Play nice, Kaliyo, they're our allies," Kyrian said.

"I can tell."

The woman's sarcasm made Jezari feel like they were all carrying signs that said "Hi, I work for the Republic!" Kyrian had probably told her they did. And planned to double-cross them as soon as they made it to the lab. _Because being out numbered two to one is really good odds. I'm starting to think like Corso._

"Kaliyo can help with the distraction," Kyrian offered. "If that's all right with you, Captain?"

Kaliyo gave him a sidelong look.

"Fine," Jezari said. He wasn't even trying to improve the odds. It made her want to take him aside and tell him how to be the double-crossing snake he was supposed to be.

"You can't take him with you," Corso protested. "I can protect you and Risha."

"Drop it, Corso," Jezari said. "You're not going to change my mind." She was going to lose her temper completely if he brought it up again.

"Try a slave collar," Kaliyo suggested. "They're good for obedience."

Bowdaar gave her a sharp look.

"Please stop antagonizing them," Kyrian said. From the look on his face, he was regretting involving her.

"Why? Don't they work for us?"

 

 

 

Kyrian could see the plan evaporating, and it was largely his fault for not being honest with Kaliyo. She had stuck with him through any number of missions and decisions she hadn't agreed with at all, but this was the first time he'd been at the mercy of someone he really did want to consider an ally.  (Other than, perhaps, Kaliyo herself.)

He could have solved that easily enough by simply taking off and leaving Dralick's lab and the mission to Jezari. Who might well have finished his mission for him. But he couldn't do that. And lying to Kaliyo had not helped matters.

"Please stop antagonizing them."

"Why?" Kaliyo looked at him, eyes narrowed.  "Don't they work for us?"

He sighed.  Honestly really was the best policy. "No, I'm afraid it's not that simple. Captain Jezari has graciously agreed to help with the mission, and not sell me to Republic Command, in exchange for our help and any Republic prisoners we find." There were a number of things wrong with their deal when it was actually spelled out. So far,  everyone had been as willing to ignore them as he was.

"Oh, I see." Kaliyo leered.  "You should've just said so."

"What?" Corso glared at Kyrian.

Kyrian ignored him.  Kaliyo's version of events might not have been _accurate_ , but it was good enough. "You know how charming I can be."

Jezari coughed. "Right." She eyed him with what he fervently hoped was more amusement than exasperation. "Let's get this over with."

 

 

  

Lord Dralick's facility looked no different from the other bland duracrete buildings in the industrial area that backed onto the spaceport.  A nearly windowless gray box with security cameras built into the upper walls and, more obviously, above the dark double doors, it was wedged between a secured warehouse and a squat office building guarded by Gamorreans.  An alley ran behind the buildings, currently blocked at one end by a knot of presumably off-duty Gamorreans playing some type of dice game.

Bowdaar led the distraction team to the free end of the alley, leaving the other three to slip in through the front door at the appointed time.  There were few people on the streets so late in the evening.

"I still think this is backwards," Jezari muttered.

"There's more security on the back door," Risha said, not for the first time.  "Most people don't break in front doors."

"Most people are sensible."

Risha frowned.

Kyrian doubted the captain's bad mood was due to the plan.  If he or Kaliyo screwed up in any way, they would be looking at a future in a Republic prison.  If they were lucky.  He couldn't fault her for that; "trust me, I'm an enemy agent" was not the best beginning to a partnership, even a temporary one.

"I'm sorry about Kaliyo," he said.  "I should have simply warned her the ship wasn't safe to keep.  I could have made it sound like a threat."  He might even have been able to convince Jezari to drop him off wherever she left the ship.

Jezari stared at him.  "Yeah, _that_ makes me trust you.  Just give it a rest."

"Is there anything that would help you trust me?"

"Why do you even...?" She shook her head.  "You'd have made one hell of a con artist if you'd been born in the right part of space, Imp."

He wasn't sure how to respond to that.  He certainly wasn't going to point out that if she really didn't trust him, she should lock him up and finish the mission on her own.  Nor was he going to mention that he wasn't entirely certain she wouldn't do precisely that as soon as they were finished.  Another reason not to have included Kaliyo.

"It's time," Risha said.

The sounds of the diversion didn't carry well in the maze of buildings, but there was no missing the force field that dropped over their target's front doors.

The three of them walked casually down the street, as if their business were with somewhere further east of the spaceport.  Only when they drew even with the double doors did they dash for their real objective. With the security's attention drawn to the chaos in the alley, it might give them a few extra seconds to disable the force field.

Or not.

No sooner had Kyrian pulled out the force field diverter he'd taken from his ship than the doors opened on a pair of security droids.

"This facility is currently closed," the one on the right said, managing to sound more ominous than any droid should. Or perhaps it was the very large wrist-mounted blaster it had leveled at them that gave its words that weight.

"Our mistake," Kyrian said calmly as all three of them took a step back. "We'll come back another time."

"Duck!" Jezari dove for the droid's feet almost before the word was out of her mouth.

Kyrian and Risha dove for cover on opposite sides of the doorway.

The force field blipped off, allowing the droids to fire, but the split second delay cost them their targets. The shots merely blew molten holes in the street. Jezari fired from the ground and the building was short two security droids.

The force field blipped back on, leaving Kyrian and Risha still outside.

"Damn it!" Jezari kicked one of the fallen droids. It bounced off the force field with a sharp zat and a small shower of sparks.

"It's all right," Kyrian said. "I can get us inside."

"No time. I've got it." Jezari blasted the force field generators in the entryway ceiling. Clearly the designer hadn't considered the need to shield them against people _inside_ the field.

The force field evaporated.

"Emergency stairs are this way." Risha sprinted down the corridor to the right, barely slowing to fire on the security droids hurrying to intercept them.

Jezari and Kyrian followed, trying to both aid Risha and cover their rear from further reinforcements.  It was soon quite clear why Dralick preferred droids to people; these hadn't been programmed with any sense of self preservation. Nothing short of destruction or dismemberment slowed them.

The three of them made the stairs, but only barely.  Jezari's ponytail was smoking and very near misses had left singe marks on her jacket and Kyrian's. A chunk of door vaporized as it closed behind them.

Jezari swore.  "They were expecting us!"

"I can still shut everything down if I can get up there." Risha took the stairs two at a time, the other two right behind her.

Jezari paused long enough to lob a flash grenade through the hole in the door.  With luck, the droids' photoreceptors wouldn't be shielded against it.

"We can cover you," Kyrian offered as they reached the second floor.

Risha shook her head. "Go for the lab. They might not realize we split up."

No, we're coming with you," Jezari said, pegging another shot over the railing. "He got the bulk discount."

An answering column of flame engulfed the outer railing between her and Kyrian.  He leapt aside, the wash of heat singeing his left arm and back. Jezari flattened herself against the wall as the jet of fire swept downward past her.

"Also the flamethrower attachment." Kyrian flexed his smarting left hand. That had been a little _too_ close. "You're going to need us."

"Not arguing that," Risha said.

They sprinted up the last of the stairs just ahead of a second sweep of flame.  The doors opened at their approach, but the droids in the hall beyond reacted just a little slower.  Security had expected them to make for the lab, a costly mistake. Kyrian and Risha took out the two security droids in the hall before they had a chance to bring their blasters to bear.

"See how you like it!" Jezari tossed a grenade into the staircase as the doors closed behind them.  There was a muffled whomph and the doors bowed outward slightly.

"Captain," Risha groaned. "We need the stairs."

Jezari gestured to the bent doors with one blaster. "Droids with _flamethrowers_!"

 

 

 

Risha could complain all she wanted; she hadn't nearly gotten _her_ face fried off.  Jezari felt like she should be checking to make sure she wasn't on fire somewhere.  That she'd had worse sunburns was beside the point.

Kyrian picked off another guard droid as it came around the corner. "To the security room?" He suggested.

Risha threw up her hands in a last gesture of exasperation at the whole thing. "This way."

Their luck, such as it was, seemed to be holding.  There were only a handful of guard droids posted outside of the control room, and they made short work of them.

The fight still took longer than Jezari would've liked.  The entire mission was taking longer than she liked, and she really didn't want to find out if that was bad luck or design.

She blew the doors open before anybody could object. And dove out of the way with a yelp as a ceiling mounted heavy blaster fired on the spot where she'd been standing.

It tracked her as she rolled out of the way, stopping only when she was out of sight beyond the wrecked doorframe.  With a faint whir, it reset to the middle of the doorway, waiting for any of them to show themselves.  Kyrian and Risha had taken cover on the other side of the door.

"I'm really starting to hate this guy," Jezari said. She hoped Corso and Bowdaar were all right, with all the trouble they'd had so far.  "Can't we just blow up the room?"

"The computer's shielded," Risha pointed out.

"That turret can't fire without dropping its shield briefly," Kyrian said. "I'll draw its fire and you should be able to take it out."

Jezari shook her head. "Reverse that. You two have got more powerful weapons."

"It might take all of us," Risha said, risking another glance. She ducked back as it tracked toward her. "Distract it so I can get over there. Unless you want to."

"I think your captain is more attached to you," Kyrian said. "Cover me."

"Both of you stay-"

They didn't wait for her to finish the sentence. Risha opened fire from as high on the wall as she could and Kyrian dove for Jezari's side of the door.

"Damn it!" Jezari added her own fire to Risha's, giving the weapon too many targets to focus on. She hoped.

It scored the sides of the doorway and put small craters in the hallway floor, showering them with molten bits of aluminum and duracrete. That it managed not to put craters in any of them owed rather a lot to luck.

"You still in one piece, Imp?" Jezari asked as he took up position beside her.

"I seem to be. You two?"

Risha nodded. "Ready?"

"Don't you ever pull something like that again," Jezari ordered.  "It's a great way to get killed!"

"I just thought about what you would do," Risha said.

Kyrian coughed.  Jezari glared at him.  It had _better_ have been a cough.

"You two... "  Nothing quite summed up her frustration well enough.  "Do something about that turret already!"  She turned to guard their backs and wonder how she'd ended up surrounded by smartasses.

Risha's plan worked beautifully.  The turret swung back and forth, opening itself up to rifle fire each time it blasted at one of them.  It was well made, but hardly immune to blaster fire.  A few well placed shots and it exploded in a fountain of flame and sparks.  The whole fixture drooped slightly.

Their timing couldn't have been much better.  Jezari had no problem taking out the first few guard droids who'd realized they'd headed for security instead of the lab, but their numbers were growing faster than she could blast them.

Worse, the latest batch had flamethrowers.

"Everybody inside!"

She shoved Kyrian into the room and ducked in after him. Risha made a beeline for the security computer. Jezari crouched on the inside of the same wall they'd been using and wondered if maybe blowing up the door hadn't been such a good idea. Every time she popped out to fire, there seemed to be more droids.

_What kind of person sticks flamethrowers on_ guard _droids, anyway?_ The only up side she could think of was that they weren't trying to catch them alive. Not that being burnt to death was much of an improvement.

Kyrian had taken position on the other side of the door, and was calmly picking off the oncoming droids.  If their numbers bothered him, it didn't show on his face.

Irritated, Jezari pitched another grenade at the droids.

"Ha!" Risha's cry of success was almost drowned out by the explosion.  When the echoing rattle and bong of falling droids faded, the hallway was still. Risha sighed.

 

 

 

The stairs proved to still be serviceable, once they'd pried the bent doors open.  A section of the handrail was gone and parts of a few steps, but the damage was easily avoided.  The door to the second floor was closed, presumably in response to the security shutdown, but Kyrian and Jezari slid it open without difficulty.

The hallways were empty and the security droids in front of the lab were drooped and silent.  They stepped around them and slid the door open.

The lab beyond was chaos. A handful of disheveled humans, a Twi'lek, and a Zabrak had done a fair job of destroying the place.

No longer identifiable lab equipment lay in smoldering heaps, the examination table had been tipped over, dead lab techs and more broken equipment scattered the floor amid pools of liquid from a broken refrigeration unit.  The prisoners had been released by Risha's shutdown and they weren't in a good mood.

They turned toward the door, three of them leveling blasters at their would-be rescuers.

"Whoa, wait!" Jezari raised her hands. "We're the rescue."

Kyrian and Risha raised their hands as well.  It should have been obvious that they weren't in Dralick's employ, but the former prisoners eyed them with suspicion.  Though they lowered their blasters, slightly.

"We don't need you," the Zabrak said. She hefted a jagged metal pole as if it were a spear.

"They might have a ship," the only other woman said.  The blaster in her hand made it unclear if she was advocating reason or piracy.

"Rescue for who?" One of the men asked.  His voice and aim were steady, but stress showed on his face.  "Who sent you?"

"For all of you," Kyrian said. "We can-"

Every weapon the former prisoners held swung to point at him. Their mixture of accents had given him no reason to hide his own; that seemed to have been an error.

"This was his idea!" Jezari said quickly. "We're here to _rescue_ you."

"Really." The Twi'lek's voice dripped sarcasm.  He didn't lower his blaster.

"What did they put in us?" a man whimpered. "A poison? A plague?"

"Tell us," the woman ordered. "Tell us and we execute you cleanly."

Kyrian wished pointing out he was a fellow Imperial would help, but he suspected that was exactly why she was advocating his execution. He wondered what she'd done.

The man who'd first spoken gestured with his blaster. "Up against that wall, now. Maybe your mercs are innocent, I don't want to shoot them by mistake."

"I came to rescue you and destroy Dralick's work," Kyrian said. But he moved, slowly, in the direction indicated.  His odds on ducking behind one of the piles of shattered equipment without getting shot did not seem good, and would do nothing to defuse the situation.  "I don't know what he did to you, but I had no part in it."

"I'll shoot you _not_ by mistake," Jezari said, drawing her blasters.  "Drop your weapons.  Now."

The woman's aim swung back to her. "You'll die, too."

"That isn't helping," Kyrian said. "Check the computer, they must have kept records." _And if they_ have _been brainwashed or poisoned, I'll think of something._ He hoped they hadn't.

The woman nodded toward the computer terminal.  Risha kept her hands raised as she walked to it. Jezari edged after her, blasters still trained on the former prisoners.  The Zabrak and the other two armed with broken equipment watched them warily.

"Why was this 'rescue' ordered?" the man with the blaster asked. "And don't lie.  I won't kill you until you tell me, but that doesn't mean I won't shoot you."

Kyrian considered quickly.  That was a terrible way to encourage someone to talk, but in this case, the truth would keep him alive the longest. Even if there were serious problems with that option. "My orders were to steal his formulae and destroy the lab. Rescuing you was my own idea."

"Very funny," the man said.

"Don't shoot him," Kyrian said, steeling himself for the expected pain.

"You think you're a Jedi?" the man snorted.

"He's talking to me," Jezari said. "And I'm not listening. You shoot him, I shoot you."

"And I shoot you," the woman said.

"Can we not shoot anyone?" Kyrian suggested. "There's some chance Lord Dralick is on his way. We have a ship - two, actually, and we can drop you anywhere you like.  All we need to do is destroy his formulae and leave.  Isn't that a better outcome for everyone?"

"He's got a point," one of the other men said.

"You'd drop us anywhere?" the Zabrak asked.  "Even Coruscant?"

"Of course."  Kyrian indicated Jezari.  "She'll take anyone who wishes to return to the Republic and I'll take anyone who wishes to return to the Empire."  Though he couldn't imagine anyone would.  "Either of us can take you to another neutral planet."

"It's a lie.  Imps pull this all the time," the man with the blaster said. "They let prisoners 'escape' with false information or surprises for the Republic."

"Horrible surprises." The man worried about poisons and plagues shuddered.

"If that were my plan, why would I take this risk?" Kyrian asked them. "You were already free."

"For the formulas," the Twi'lek said, and frowned. "That doesn't make sense."

"No, it doesn't," the woman agreed. "He might be telling the truth."

"Great," Jezari said. "Now do something about your trigger happy friend."

"Why would an _Imp_ rescue us?" the man with the blaster demanded.

"It's the right thing to do," Kyrian said.

The man stared at him.

"Now I've heard everything," the Twi'lek said. But he lowered his blaster.

"This is disgusting," Risha said, looking up from the computer. "Even in scientist-ese. But as far as I can tell, they were just test subjects.  Anybody want to check before I erase everything?"

"I want to see," the worried man said, leaning eagerly over the computer.  "How do I know which one's me?"

"You're really going to have her erase everything?" The woman looked curiously at Kyrian.  "Against orders?"

"Yes."  Kyrian risked a glance at her.  "No one needs Dralick's formulae."

 "Right," Jezari said.  "Dralick's formulas, bad. Rescuers, good. Now put your blasters away already!"

The woman turned back to her, but she'd lowered her blaster.  "Your friend is going to get himself killed if he make a habit of this."

"Maybe if the rescuees appreciated getting rescued," Jezari grumbled.

Kyrian was pretty sure that wasn't what she'd meant.  But the immediate problem remained.  "Wouldn't you rather have a lift back to the Republic?" He asked.

"I'll never trust an Imp," the man said.

"You don't have to trust me. You don't even have to trust her.  No one will stop you from leaving and finding your own way back."

The man considered him a few long moments longer, then finally lowered his blaster.  Kyrian hoped his relief wasn't as obvious as Jezari's.  She sagged back against the computer bank with an audible sigh of relief and holstered her blasters.

"About time," she said.  "Can we get out of here?"

"Wiping the computer memory now," Risha said.  "Give me a minute or two."

"Is this everyone?" Kyrian asked the former prisoners.

"Everyone who survived," the man who'd threatened him said darkly.  "The experiments straight out killed some.  Others they shot because they weren't _useful_ any more."

"I'm sorry."

It was the wrong thing to say.  Fury contorted the man's face.  "Don't you _dare_ pretend you're any different!"  He waved his blaster at Kyrian.  "You're getting something out of this and it's paid in _blood_."

Kyrian took a half-step back, hands raised. The most obvious solution was not likely to end well.  Even with Jezari there, there was a good chance the other former prisoners would join in if it came to a fight, and Kyrian doubted they'd be on his side. On the other hand, another attempt at diplomacy seemed likely to get him shot.

"You should pay for what happened here, pay for what they did!"

Kyrian watched the blaster barrel make wild circles through the air.  His options had dropped to a mere matter of timing.

"They all agree!  They're just too afraid to-"

"That's it!"  Jezari snatched the blaster out of the man's shaking hand.  "I oughta make you _walk_ back to Republic space."

He stared at her.

"Thank you," Kyrian said, more calmly than he felt.

 

 

 

Jezari felt a bit like smacking him, but it was hard to be too irritated with somebody who got in trouble for acting like a decent person.  The Imperial woman was right, though; he was going to get himself killed.

_Your crew doesn't need a stray enemy agent,_ she told herself.  _There's something seriously creepy about his partner and Corso would have a fit._ Not that he'd said anything about wanting to defect.

"Are you done?" She asked Risha.

"Yep.  I erased everything, just to be on the safe side."

"Great."  Jezari waved her out of the way.  And blasted the computer into slag.

Risha rolled her eyes.  "He wasn't going to be able to recover anything."

"Now he really won't."  Jezari grinned.  Leaving a trail of wrecked computers through Dralick's properties was surprisingly satisfying. She was sorry she hadn't thought to shoot the security computer.  "Time to move out."

They ran into Corso on the stairs.

"Captain!  We were getting worried," he explained before Jezari could ask what the hell he was doing there.  "I thought something might have happened."

She shrugged. "We ran into more droids than expected."

"Oh."  He glanced at Kyrian, frowned, and turned to lead the way down the stairs.  "We, er, found a utility speeder.  In case, you know..."  He made a vague gesture at the rescuees.

"Good thinking." Even if they didn't _need_ a ride back to the spaceport, it sounded better than walking back.  The sooner they were far away, the better.

The "found" utility speeder turned out to be an open-air model, intended for cargo rather than people, but she wasn't worried about it for a short ride.  As long as Flashquik Couriers hadn't noticed their speeder was missing, the trip would be a breeze.

Jezari hopped into the driver's seat.  "Pile in.  Next stop's the spaceport."

Corso slid into the passenger's seat before anybody else could, and the rest climbed into the cargo bed.   With luck, they'd pass for a work crew.  If anybody noticed them at all.  That was one thing she had to give Hutt space: nobody noticed anything if at all possible.

Jezari, however, _did_ notice the expensive, enclosed speeder that passed them going the other direction.  And did an immediate U-turn.

"That can't be good," Kyrian commented from behind her.

"Hang on."  She pushed the throttle in and took a sharp left between rows of warehouses.  Her passengers yelped, cursed, and scrabbled for the cargo tie downs - the only available handholds.

"We need rope, cargo straps, something!" Risha yelled.  She clung to the back of Corso's seat.

Jezari zigzagged through the alleyways, their pursuer never more than a block behind.  If only they'd stolen an airspeeder, a _covered_ airspeeder, she could have lost them by getting above the maze of buildings.  As it was, aerobatics were out of the question.

A blaster bolt melted a hole in the windscreen.

"Damn it!"  She took the next corner so fast that her passengers were all slammed to one side of the cargo bed.  She tried not to worry about the assorted cries of pain.

Five abrupt turns later and she'd lost track of where the spaceport was.  Their pursuer, however, was still fast behind them.

"Why can't I lose them!?"

"If that's Dralick, you can probably blame the Force."  Kyrian's voice sounded a bit strained.

"The Force?  What...?"  Jezari nearly turned to gape at him.  "He's a _Sith!?_   Nobody told me he was a Sith!"

"He wouldn't be _Lord_ Dralick if he weren't."

"How was I supposed to know that!?" Jezari swore.  That was an extremely important thing to not mention.  It was like handing somebody balls to juggle and forgetting to tell them they were high explosives.  "A _Sith!?_ I hate Sith!"

"It's all right," Kyrian said.  "I don't think he's very powerful."

"Not very-!?  He's a _Sith_!"

She ramped off a parked speeder and almost made the roof of a lower warehouse.  Almost.

The landspeeder bounced on its repulsorlift cushion and slewed sideways.  Jezari risked a quick glance behind her.  Everyone was still onboard, barely.  She took advantage of their new heading and sped into an open warehouse.

"Captain!" Corso yelped.

Loader droids skittered out of the way, bleeping angrily.  The other end of the warehouse wasn't open.  It was a grid of some clear material, meant to let in light.  She was pretty sure a cheap warehouse wouldn't use transparisteel.

" _Captain!_ "  Corso's voice hit an octave she'd never heard from him before.  He pulled Risha into the front seat and covered her with his body.

They crashed through the wall at speed, shards of whatever-it-was raining down on them.  Jezari barely noticed.  She'd sighted the spaceport again.  Abandoning all hope of losing their pursuers, she shoved the throttle to max and aimed them straight for it, other vehicles be damned.

In a straight run, the courier speeder was just a tiny bit faster, though not faster enough for Jezari.  She ignored the parking area and didn't so much as slow down for the spaceport gates.   Security shrieked at them as they flew past.

Disregarding everything, including the blaring alarms, Jezari laid on the horn and steered the speeder through the spaceport itself.  Beings of all varieties scattered, shouting and waving tentacles, fists, and other appendages at them.

Mere meters from the docking bays, Jezari slammed on the breaking thrusters.  The battered courier speeder spun and slid sideways into the wall, coming to an abrupt halt almost precisely between their ships.

Jezari vaulted from the driver's seat.  "Everybody out!"

Corso and Risha stumbled out the other side.

"Whoo!"  Kaliyo jumped down from the cargo bed.  "My kind of ride."

Kyrian hopped down with less than his usual grace, but he turned to help Bowdaar with the escapees.  They half climbed, half fell out of the back, looking rather stunned.

"Pick your ship," Jezari called.  "We're outta time.  Get out of here, Imp."

"Good luck, Captain."  Kyrian sketched a salute, turned and sprinted for his ship.  Kaliyo, the Imperial woman, and the Twi'lek followed.

Jezari ran for her ship, followed by everyone else.  Clearances, pre-flight checks, and other niceties were not on her agenda.  That way led to meeting Lord Dralick and if there was one thing she didn't want to meet, it was Sith Lords.

 

 

 

The ATC computer of Dirha's main spaceport bleeped in irritation to itself as two ships disregarded all procedures and orders and took off without permission.  It logged their registrations, banning them from future travel, then turned its attention to the more responsible traffic.  That those two ships were wanted by an angry Sith Lord was entirely irrelevant.

 


End file.
